Fresh Updates from RAC

Yesterday, President Obama announced a crucial aspect of his Climate Action Plan: a comprehensive proposal to provide necessary infrastructures in preparing the United States to withstand the most severe impacts of climate change, like extreme weather events and increased flooding.

In November, the president established the State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience to advise him on how the federal government can best respond to communities nationwide that are already dealing with the impacts of climate change. The task force is composed of governors, mayors, county officials, and tribal leaders who thoroughly understand how the communities they represent have been affected by the increased frequency and severity of heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms, and floods.

If you take a moment to peruse the Third National Climate Assessment, released this past May, you will see that climate change impacts every region of our country. In the Northeast, river flooding and heat waves plague the most disadvantaged communities. In the Southwest, severe droughts stress water sources, and rising sea levels pose risk to highways, bridges, power plants, and sewage treatment plants. In the Midwest, increased temperatures are having a negative effect on human health and suppressing agricultural yields. All of these impacts of climate disruption call for the mitigation of carbon pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases. Take a moment to tell the EPA that you support the Clean Power Plan, which will limit emissions from existing power plants.

However, emissions reductions are not enough. We must also promote efforts to support communities throughout the country in adapting to the realities of our changing climate. The president’s plan and the Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience help communities build better resilience to the impacts of climate change. This is particularly important in ensuring that every American, from every community and every region, is protected from future extreme weather events and other disasters.

Many times throughout history, the Jewish people have faced crisis or the threat of destruction, but we have emerged with hope. In considering the ecological crisis facing our world, we must recognize that Jewish tradition calls on us to adapt to our changing climate and be resilient for the benefit of future generations.

This week, the Chaverim and Olim campers (ages 13-15) of URJ Crane Lake Camp have been learning about the issue of climate change and exploring their personal impact on the environment. As is tradition at Crane Lake, each week of the summer focuses on a particular Jewish value, middot. This week, the value is bal tashchit, “do not destroy,” which has commonly been understood as, “do not waste,” in the context of our stewardship of the planet and our use of natural resources. Read more…

“I challenge you to bring to the Summit bold pledges. Innovate, scale-up, cooperate and deliver concrete action that will close the emissions gap and put us on track for an ambitious legal agreement through the UNFCCC process.” –UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

As part of efforts to combat global climate change, the United Nations will hold a Climate Summit in New York in September. The Summit, organized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will serve as an opportunity for global Heads of State, government officials, and business, finance, civil society and local leaders to discuss catalyzing action to help the world shift toward a low-carbon economy. Read more…

On June 25, 2013, President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan, aimed at reducing our nation’s impact on the environment and curbing climate change. So where are we now, one year later?

In September, the Administration rolled out a proposed rule for carbon emissions limits for new power plants and just earlier this month, a proposal for existing power plants. Despite some push back, the Obama Administration and the EPA have held true to their promise from one year ago to respond to the most dire effects of climate change by developing regulations to mitigate our impact, shaping methods to make our nation more resilient and better able to adapt to our changing world, and demonstrating leadership in the international arena. We know all too well that while the United States is one of the largest emitters in the world, more vulnerable countries suffer the greatest impacts.

That is not to say that the United States is not also feeling the effects of climate disruption. In the recently released 2014 National Climate Assessment report, a team of more than 300 experts guided by a 60-member Federal Advisory Committee conducted an extensive review of how climate change poses severe challenges in every region and every sector of the United States. The report concluded that we are not immune to the effects of climate change, and while once considered a “distant threat,” we are feeling the effects now.

How does climate change affect you? Why do you #ActOnClimate? On twitter, facebook or your social media outlet of choice, post a picture or a story about why you personally care about our changing climate:

I will #ActOnClimate to…

I #ActOnClimate because… Read more…

“Baruch atah (a strong breath out), eloheynu ruach ha-olam, a-sher kid-shanu b’mitz-votav vitzi-vanu la-asok b-divray torah. Blessed are You, Breath of Life, Spirit of the Universe, who sanctifies us with Your Mitzvot and commands us to engage in the study of Torah.” – Rabbi Arthur Waskow

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of presenting at and attending the Teva Seminar on Jewish Outdoor, Food and Environmental Education at the Isabella Freedman Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT. Isolated in the grounds of this Jewish, environmental haven, I shared time with and learned from some of the most interesting voices in the Jewish environmental movement. Between the nearly two dozen sessions I attended throughout the week, and the time I spent with Jewish environmental leaders, it would be impossible to share every lesson and insight in this single blog post. Instead, I have Ten Teva Tidbits to impart below: Read more…

By now, you’ve probably heard about the Environmental Protection Agency’s new ruleregulating emissions from coal-fired power plants. Of course, in the long-term this key regulation will have a significant impact on mitigating climate change. But in the shorter-term, it will also affect another critically important issue: human health. Read more…

Read more…

Today, the Environmental Protection Agency rolled out a new proposal to set the first ever carbon pollution standards for existing power plants in our nation’s history. Last June, President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan aimed at addressing the devastation of climate change. Under that plan, President Obama has called on the EPA to establish carbon pollution standards for new and existing power plants.

Carbon emissions are leading contributors to climate change and air pollution, and power plants are our nation’s largest stationary source of carbon pollution. By the administration’s estimate, today’s proposed standards, when implemented, will curb carbon pollution from the power sector by 30% by the year 2030, significantly reducing detrimental impacts to the environment and human health.

In response to today’s proposal, Barbara Weinstein, Associate Director of the RAC, issued a statement in support of the new carbon pollution standards, saying: Read more…